Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Los siete maridos de Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

35 reviews

mcc004's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, and Car accident

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

earth_to_mars's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

My thoughts on Evelyn Hugo are conflicted, so I wanted to start on the technical aspects of Reid's writing. She is a good writer, great even. From descriptions to dialogue, there's not much I can complain about. Her descriptions are vivid but not flowery and the dialogue feels as real as it can, each character has enough of a personality and unique voice that I could probably tell you who said what without tags.

I like her additions of the articles, both old and new as it adds to the believability of this being a biography of an Old Hollywood movie star. 

The pacing is good, slow enough to digest everything that Ms. Hugo is telling us, but not slow enough to feel like a drag when trying to read through each marriage. All in all, her technical skills are the reason I rated this book higher than I wanted to.

My issues lie within the representation within the book. And while yes, I understand this is historical fiction, there's a way to write bigotry without incorporating homophobic and biphobic tropes in a way that almost seems positive. She incorporates Harry as The Gay Best Friend and Celia as The Bitchy Lesbian both of which are not enjoyable in the slightest. She incorporates the downright biphobic trope - The Cheating Bisexual - twice. Once with Evelyn Hugo herself and possibly again with

Monique's father at the end of the book, and I say possibly because Reid does not confirm his sexuality

. I, after listening to POC talk about this book, realize the racial representation is not the best either. While barely incorporating how Evelyn's race effected her career and social status in an era that was incredibly racist to having the only other two Latine characters being a maid and abusive father, the descriptions of "how Evelyn's blonde hair doesn't match her bronze skin" and Monique's fixations on being mixed race, it comes off as ignorant/insensitive at best and bigoted at worst.

It definitely feels as though Reid did not have any sensitivity readers or did any sort of research on marginalized groups or even listen to marginalized voices, which has soured the book for me and why I feel I can only give it a 3.25.

In the end, it's a solid book and the characters and their complexities and flaws are what make the book as good as it is with moments that made my eyes water. But, Reid is in desperate need of making sure her biases/ignorance don't bleed into her writing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Xenophobia, Car accident, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Incest, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Sexual assault

amiamor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I enjoyed her various love stories in all their forms. I was not a fan of the ending and I am sensitive to the topic of cheating so this wasn't my thing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

apriltee's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 I’d recommend the audiobook. The person playing Monique was very expressive, and Evelyn’s voice was very realistic and engaging. Some little annoyances like mentioning people’s ethnicity when not super relevant makes some parts feel a bit performative. There are parts where that vibe comes through and it felt a bit cringey, but I think overall the story was engaging and emotional. It was a pretty emotional rollercoaster and I need to sue the author for all the Kleenex I went through. I truly cannot wait to see some kind of Netflix adaptation of this

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Outing

i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Pretty solid read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Car accident

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

alli_andrews's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Pregnancy

rat_girly's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

After a slow start I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I liked how the story prompted me to reflect on the development of queer acceptance over the decades, and gave me a new appreciation for queer people who came before me. I loved the themes of found family, community, and the different kinds of soulmates and love we can find in this world.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Minor: Drug use, Incest, Infertility, Suicide, and Abortion

kingcrookback's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

...I wish I liked this the way I've seen other people like it. I don't hate it, by any means, but this really didn't live up to the hype for me. I'm all for diving into the nitty-gritty of fame and the panopticon of celebrity. I even found it engaging to tick off the references to real famous people and Old Hollywood stars - Evelyn as an amalgam of Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, and Joan Didion, Harry's car accident analogous to Montgomery Clift's and his being closeted similar to Cary Grant's - and I appreciated that Reid didn't strain credulity by shoehorning or name-dropping actual celebrities. But the only part of this book's treatment of fame that truly engaged me was

the transactional exchange between Evelyn and her driver after Harry's car accident

because it stood out as one of the only times I could viscerally feel how grimy the business of fame could be.

Little else about the book truly grabbed me. Evelyn was handled in this blandly girlboss-y feminist way and had a jarringly modern understanding of queerness for the 1950s-70s. The amount of time we got to spend with Celia wasn't really conducive to building an actual attachment to her character, ditto Monique. The memoir narrative felt unmoored in time, despite the descriptions of clothing that were supposed to help in that respect. Like, I don't care what people were wearing, tell me about what attitudes were like in that decade, that year. If you want to talk about the fashion so badly, why not make some connection to how clothing can signify in microcosm what was going on in society at large? Once again, I honestly just wish I saw what other people see in this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Sexual content, Suicide, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Racism, and Abortion

idontread's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

to anyone who saw me crying alone in the airport lounge while reading this no u didn’t

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic